segunda-feira, 2 de fevereiro de 2015

Glenn Hauser logs January 30-31 - February 1 , 2015

** AUSTRALIA. 9580, Feb 1 at 1259, R. Australia is back on prime frequency toward, but not for, North America, 70 degree azimuth, with VG signal as `Sunday Night`, wide-ranging religion show on RN & RA is about to take a break. Also on // 12085 and 12065, not on 9475 or any 5-6 MHz channels now kaput. 12085 is much stronger than 12065, which is in accordance with the official schedule now, 30 degree antenna on 12085, 355 degrees on 12065; a reversal of the pre-January 31 arrangement.

At 1311 ``The Inquisition`` segment starts, religious quiz for callers usually displaying their ignorance. I assume losers don`t get flogged or burned at the stake.

Recheck at 1635: 12085 is now strongest but only fair, while 9580 is weakened by daytime absorption, and 12065 on the farthest beam from USward is JBA. At least the only three scheduled frequencies are really on the air today. Must recheck between 18 and 19, whether the new Nigerian target broadcast [q.v.] from Ascension, Dandal Kura, is colliding on 12065, or now on 12055 as claimed in their tweets (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDIA. 9690, Feb 1 at 1400, AIR with unusually fair signal, speech about India`s leadership in S Asia, and just as I am getting into it, dumps off the air at 1402* for a sesquiminute until *1403.5 carrier back on, 1403.8 resume modulation. Meanwhile I check the two //: 13710 blocked as usual by CRI English; 11620 very poor, unusable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KURDISTAN [non]. 9400, Feb 1 at 1441, Denge Kurdistane via PRIDNESTROVYE with two or three gunshots, then crowd noises and music. A bit unnerving, but I supposed to be expected from the PKK terrorists, as Turkey sees them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 1480, Feb 1 at 0623, time check for :23 and ``Rancherita regional con música norteña``. I make the DF about southwest, but slogan matches IRCA Mexican Log for XETKR, Monterrey NL, which is SSW, 10/1 kW with NOR/RAN formats. 1480 has become a more DXable frequency with the demise of KBXD Dallas (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NIGERIA [non]. 9440, Feb 1 at 0520 tune-in for new US AID broadcast via Ascension, Dandal Kura, which starts at 0500: good signal in tonal African language; 0526 music group singing briefly, talk, 0528 another bit of music. Then lo-fi phoners from noisy locations with lots of crowd, background noise. 0548 music, 0551 better studio audio. [0553 compare to 7350 Hamada Radio International via RMI via GERMANY and find inferior reception here]. I can`t understand any Kanuri, except for ``Nigeria`` and ``www --- dot.com`` in the closing. Haven`t they adopted a single word from English? The British colonialists failed. Dead air 0558:18-0600*.

[9460, then BBCWS in English as usual via Ascension from 0600, may or may not be same transmitter. At 0606 check, there is something else on 9440, poor-fair in Arabic. Aoki shows that as Bible Voice = Radio Dardasha 7 via GERMANY at 0600-0615 daily]

Ivo Ivanov quotes this from somewhere: ``Kanuri is a dialect continuum spoken by 4 million people in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and small minorities in southern Libya, and by a diaspora in Sudan. It

My question is, why have US AID bestowed such a 2-hour SW service upon the Kanuri while there are countless other minority ethnic groups in Nigeria and elsewhere which have no such benefits? May require a search deeper into the USAID Political Transition Initiatives website than I have undertaken. Perhaps Boko Haram terrorism in the area has something to do with it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AUSTRALIA

** U S A. 9395, Sunday Feb 1 at 1309, R. Cairo has failed again to provide a show to Global 24 via WRMI, so back to the 1812 Overture (please! Get a greater variety of fill music). And at 1358 and 1414 chex, 9395 is off the air (WRMI 9955 still on well, but 17790 also absent at 1416 while 15770, 11825 and 11580 are all on with BS so not an Okee power outage). Next check at 1440, 9395 is back on with `Switzerland in Sound`, Bob Zanotti interviewing somewoman. 1445, 17790 R. Africa via WRMI is still missing, unimpeding some weak OTH radar around 17765-17790 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 810, Sunday Feb 1 at 1338 UT, Rosary in responsive Spanish, something about a woman with a growth in her belly, roughly east/west. First thought of KSWV Santa Fe, but it`s really a secular city despite the name, and pre-sunrise. There`s another SS in mid-Tennessee, but probably too far into daylight? More likely this from NRC AM Log:

KXOI Crane (Odessa) TX, 1000/500 watts U3, ``Radio Alabanza`` and that`s exactly what they are doing. 1342 UT losing to music from the NW/SE, presumably KLVZ Brighton (Denver) CO, but still separable for a few minutes. Not a hint of WHB Kansas City yet.

** AUSTRALIA [and non]. 12065, Jan 31 at 2007, NO signal from R. Australia, supposedly scheduled here at 0900-2100 toward North America. Remains to be heard whether the last known 3-transmitter schedule will be enacted as published.

[BTW, look out for the new target broadcast, sponsored by USAID for Nigeria, Dandal Kura, at 1800-1900 daily on 12065 via Ascension, per WRTH Update, which would collide with RA; except show`s tweets say 12055 instead; Ivo Ivanov did record it on 12065 Jan 28, but that was before RA was supposed to expand 12065 hours; and Dandal Kura is also via ASC at 0500-0600 on undisputed 9440]. However,

17840, Feb 1 at 0030, RA is on here as before and per new sked with fair signal, show about Johann Strauss` career with his waltzes. No longer on 19000. The 21-09 schedule also calls for 15415 and 15240, where I detect nothing but JBA carriers. This certainly is not `Future Tense` as on the RA schedule for 0030 UT Sundays; plugged into Classic FM net instead? No, no Strauss on the `Sunday Morning` playlist.

I was about to award 17840 OSOB status, but kept tuning down and eventually found very poor signals at 0037 on 17520 and 17510, which Aoki shows as KSDA in Chinese, and RFA Burmese via TINIAN, respectively; and then on 17490 the real SSOB, CRI Cantonese via Beijing site at 193 degrees, fair with heavy flutter. Since this is so strong, I tune OOB and find a whole bunch of CNR1 jammers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL. 11815 & 11745, Feb 1 at 0052, crackling spurs from RNA/RNB 11780.1v, and a weaker one around 11710, but no Argentina to hit on weekends (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. CNR1 jammers, early UT February 1, most with very heavy flutter, u.o.s., and in different synchronized groups:

16980, Feb 1 at 0033, CNR1 jammer, good

16100, Feb 1 at 0034, CNR1 jammer, good

15940, Feb 1 at 0035, CNR1 jammer, good

15800, Feb 1 at 0035, CNR1 jammer, fair

15550, Feb 1 at 0036, CNR1 jammer, very poor

15340, Feb 1 at 0038, CNR1 jammer, good, a reverb apart from 16100

15295, Feb 1 at 0038, CNR1 jammer, fair

14980, Feb 1 at 0039, CNR1 jammer, good

14920, Feb 1 at 0039, CNR1 jammer, good with less flutter and a split second behind the 16100 group

14870, Feb 1 at 0040, CNR1 jammer, good, 2 seconds behind 16100

14800, Feb 1 at 0041, CNR1 jammer, poor, // synch with 15340

13890, Feb 1 at 0043, CNR1 jammer, good, // synch with 14870

13870, Feb 1 at 0044, CNR1 jammer, fair under heavy RTTY, // 16100, and also distorted spurs out to 13830 apparently from this

** NORTH AMERICA. 6925.1-USB, Feb 1 at 0104, good signal from pirate, music style could be Whisky Redneck Radio; but 0113 ``This is Rock & Roll Radio; stay tuned for more rock & roll``. So a new one? No, same station at 0117 interjects ``Wolverine Radio`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TIBET [non]. 5830, Feb 1 at 0056, very poor signal with music. Aoki shows VOA Tibetan, 250 kW, 20 degrees from Sri Lanka at 00-01, which means I am probably hearing a CNR1 jammer, but did not think to match it to one of the 24 other frequencies just logged. WTWW doesn`t come on till about 0200, but 0100 would do (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9930, Jan 31 at 2005, WTWW-2 is off again after the classical music concert in the morning. 12105, WTWW-3 is now on with Ted ID at 2007 in English, back to Spanish Bibling. Hmm, I wonder if 12105 and 9930 are really sharing the same transmitter? 5085 is not on at 0100 Feb 1 either, while 12105 is weak (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. DAYTIME SKYWAVE MW DX, JANUARY 31, 1801-1931 UT

Having heard WGN and a bunch of other skywave stations yesterday during the hour after local mean noon (always 1832 UT), from inside Enid as I was driving and hunting quietest spots to stop and tune, today I plan a DX-pedition to my favorite and closest quiet rural monitoring spot, which is NW of Enid almost to Carrier, 7.5 miles west of US 81/60/64 on SH 45, where there is an area without overhead powerlines, and a convenient pull-off. I shall park facing north with the caradio whip on the right front fender, in case that have any influence on direxionality, pickup.

This includes some groundwave logs where there is something significant. We are getting our first good rain in months, so this may be enhancing groundwave a bit, and not a single lightning crash. As for skywave, there may be some additional help from sporadic E. It certainly was not reaching VHF channel 2, but strong signals from US stations a megameter away on the 15 MHz HF band are a sign of it. Es` role in mediumwave propagation seems to be a little-studied phenomenon.

In case significant, the WWV propagation info for 1800 UT on Jan 31:

``Geophysical Alert Message

# Solar-terrestrial indices for 30 January follow.

Solar flux 159 and estimated planetary A-index 11.

The estimated planetary K-index at 1800 UTC on 31 January was 2.

No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours.

Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor.

Geomagnetic storms reaching the G1 level are likely.

Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are likely.``

First, as I pull out of the garage, WGN 720 is immediately listenable, at fair and steady level, not as strong as at night, but certainly sufficient here at mid-day. Not wanting to lose time on my way to a quick lunch, my first stop inside Enid is in a large open field south of Autry Technology Center without powerlines, which has thus been occupied by kite festivals at other yearparts.

720, Jan 31 at 1801 UT, WGN is in well with obvious local references. WGN is the prime pilot for all this, and the most fortunate in not suffering from any adjacent channel splash, nor any significant co-channel. Chicago-Enid city to city distance: 1074 km = 667 miles

700, Jan 31 at 1806 UT, sports discussion involving Seton Hall and Xavier, way over KHSE The Metroplex; apparently originates from NJ. There are several Xaviers, but WLW schedule for today confirms it`s them at 11:30-2:30 EST:

1120, Jan 31 at 1810 UT, KMOX under KEOR Tulsa = still open carrier/dead air

1360, Jan 31 at 1811 UT, low audible heterodyne which must be between the two closest groundwave which are both EWTN. See below

Now after lunch on my way to the prime DX spot near Carrier:

1670, Jan 31 at 1850 UT, algo with sportstalk. Has to be WOZN Madison WI. As soon as I am parked at prime spot, monitor this further; at 1854 UT, CBS Sportsradio, which fits for WOZN. 1038 km = 645 miles

1660, Jan 31 at 1854 UT, talk with a SAH, not enough to recognize as Bloomberg, but surely KWOD Kansas City KS; and the other most likely KQWB West Fargo ND, but KRZI Waco TX also possible; WQLR Kalamazoo MI never heard even at night

1610, Jan 31 at 1855 UT, the TIS at Great Salt Plains State Park, OK, is now clearly audible on GW and still relaying NOAA Weather Radio from Kansas, synthetic YL. Nothing but NOAA?

1420, Jan 31 at 1856 UT, low audible heterodyne, no doubt from the two closest groundwaves in KS and OK. At 1917 UT, it`s almost not raining, so step outside the car with DX-398 on BFO and quickly determine that 1420- is KULY Ulysses KS, while 1420.0, almost matching non-offset of several nearby frequencies, is KTJS Hobart OK. The het here is somewhat higher than the one on 1360, q.v. I assume KULY is still not a Metropolitan Opera affiliate, which we can get only on KUCO 90.1. Distance from Ulysses, 336 km = 209 miles; Hobart, 188 km = 117 miles. Not only is KULY almost twice as far from here, but it beams NW away from us and Hobart, while KTJS is non-direxional, both 1 kW in the day

1360, Jan 31 at 1857 UT, low audible heterodyne, from the two closest groundwave stations in KS and TX. Fortunately at 1907 UT, it`s almost stopped raining so with winds from the south, I step out of car, and quickly DF the 1360+ one as KDJW Amarillo TX, vs on-frequency KPHN El Dorado KS, which is strong enough for audio; both are EWTN but not enough KDJW signal to tell if they are // and not synchronized; anyhow, Catholix vs Catholix! At 1928 UT I notice that the het is slightly varying, probably KDJW`s fault. I didn`t think to pack in my portable keyboard in order to measure the hets; next time, as they will likely still be doing it

1370, Jan 31 at 1856 UT, still no sign of KGNO Dodge City KS, which Frosty Osborn, closer in Hooker OK, also has trouble hearing; believed to be off or severely ailing. Altho out here local 1390 KCRC is still causing some desensitization 20 kHz away

1200, Jan 31 at 1858 UT, SAH from two weak stations; WRTO Chicago could be one if in Spanish, but at 1913 UT talk show from Texas is in English, so WOAI San Antonio. Nice also to be getting skywave from the south where the sun is of course higher than from the north. City to city: 778 km = 484 miles

1100, Jan 31 at 1858 UT, 2- or 3-way SAH; 1900 UT, YL news atop. Can`t get a local reference but maybe WTAM Cleveland if not KNZZ Grand Junxion or WZFG Fargo [non]; or all three

830, Jan 31 at 1908 UT, preacher in English is now atop WCCO as definitely logged earlier. Altho rain is starting again, I get out and DF this one ASAP, bending over to shield the DX-398: WNW/ESE, which points to 25 kW ND daytimer KUYO Evansville (Casper), central WY, 1016 km = 632 miles. Not to be confused with Evanston in SW WY. Already logged 830 WGUE Memphis TN and it is not religious

1060, Jan 31 at 1912 UT, discussion of abortion. No doubt KRCN Longmont CO, just this month born again from biz to Catholic

1400, Jan 31 at 1914 UT, whoopee! Local 1390 KCRC is in dead air, so I can hear something adjacent, but with national ads: NAPA, Quicken, and then at 1915 UT, Norman Mitsubishi, so KREF Norman OK. KCRC remodulates a SBG by 1917 UT

700, Jan 31 at 1919 UT, station in English almost zero-beat with KHSE TX groundwave; 1920 clear ID for WLW, Cincinnati. Unlike WGN, the 700 station suffers from ACI splash de 690 KGGF if not 710 KCMO

770, Jan 31 at 1922 UT, talk station now audible hoping for some sky, but it`s about North Dallas, so KAAM 10 kW Garland TX, groundwavable

840, Jan 31 at 1922 UT, talk show on education, abhorring an incident where a girl student had to pull her pants down and show her underwear. Apparently national, with phone 1-800-507-7080, then a caller from Colorado. Can it be WHAS? Let`s see: sked shows Sat 1-4 pm EST, ``The Weekend With Joe Pags`` but no further link worx. Phone number confirmed at http://www.joepags.com/

1550, Jan 31 at 1929 UT, ``News Radio 15-50, KKLE, Winfield`` [KS] and singing ID ``KKLE``, last letter raised pitch, 1930 UT into SRN News; is that the best they can do for news? No mention now of 1130 KLEY with which it is allegedly //. 250-watt KKLE is not far, always audible on daytime GW mixing with 2.5 kW KYAL, Sapulpa OK

1690, Jan 31 at 1931 UT, Disney-type music which was not audible earlier, no doubt KDDZ Arvada (Denver) CO again like yesterday

Now only one hour after noon LMT. With that I wrap it up and head home. The skywave DX has been much steadier than at night, but not constant, still subject to fades in and out. Much less interference now to combat (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1360+, Feb 1 at 0132 UT, I am still hearing a weak het on the hi side of countless 1360s closer to nominal, and the DF fits for Amarillo, KDJW as I decided in the daytime (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1670+, Feb 1 at 0136 UT, WOZN Madison WI has a fast SAH from something, and compared to neighboring channels, it`s WOZN which is off-frequency to the hi side. There are only 4 other North Americans on 1670, in CA, CA, GA and QC. That makes WPLA Dry Branch (Macon) GA the most likely beater, a Fox Sports outlet yet to be logged (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 740-, Feb 1 at 0121 UT, KRMG Tulsa has a low rumbling het on the lo side as also a few weeks ago, and again heard for several nights. Very hard to separate here; Mexican? 780 WBBM also has one (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15431-USB, Feb 1 at 0037, 2-way in colloquial Spanish, whistling, crackling, beeping, mentioning ``500 kilos, 522 kilos`` of some commodity; what could that be? Also with a JBA carrier on 15431, not 15430, so one of their transmitters also emanates reduced carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

12035, Jan 31 at 0120, R. Cairo, fair with flutter, just barely modulated. Aoki lists both 12080 and 12035 for Spanish, but I rarely hear both at the same time; nothing else listed now for either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 960, Jan 31 at 0200 with local KGWA precisely nulled during a silly ballgame, I have been hearing songs in English, [see UNIDENTIFIED] and hope for an ID now, but instead it`s XEK Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, announcing 5,000 watts, and then playing `XEW` chimes, four descending, plus a fifth lower, immediately followed by American Legion PSA in English for veterans, which surely was from some other, US station (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. I`ve been wondering just how high the Broadway Tower (to be Hotel?) in downtown Enid is; I count 14 stories, plus another penthouse occupied by broadcast transmitters. If 10 feet per story is standard, that makes about 150 feet, or 46 meters to the roof level where all the FM and TV transmitting antennas grow. K288FX on 105.5 (which remains on the air now), is licensed at 60 meters = 197 feet, which would be about right adding some mast height. Remember that KEIF-LP 104.7 lost its license for being on this building, too high for an LPFM (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7489.88 approx., UT Sat Jan 31 at 0100, `Allan Weiner Worldwide` on WBCQ and 31 seconds delayed on 5109.81 approx., but 9330 is not on (nor 15420). I listen during the next half hour and note the following from what he says, first confirming my observations of better signals on 7490v and 5110v: the ``new 7490 signal is super-modulated at widest bandwidth``; 5110 is also ``high-fidelitigh``, which is another way of saying no longer compatible USB only, ``as we rebuild our main exciter``. So I guess these are not totally new transmitters?

Allan in a sad mood also goes on to lament people who have been ``lost`` in the past year: Jim Cedarstrom of Money Talks, but his heirs continue the program with some reruns; Ed Bolton, in late November/early December for ``evil and bad reasons``. Earlier, Michael Ketter almost 10 years ago; Allan`s wife Jennifer a year and a half ago; Bill Cooper.

Video from (Florida) studio is also being webcast via U-screen, and Dr Becker called to say it`s also via http://wbcq.tv Allan says he is not goofing off in Florida, but now you can run a radio station from anywhere with a smart phone and that is what he does. Just look at the weather in Monticello by searching on ZIP 04760! Kudos to his staff back in Maine who keep it going, for not much pay as ``all`` income goes to the electric power company, taxes, etc.

Also at the SW site are MW & FM stations. WBCQ FM 94.7 is ``Kix FM``, with classic country not from a syndicator but programmed by Jason & Tom. Says in 1981 he and first wife Sarah had owned WOZI 101.7 in Presque Isle, how as a rocker he didn`t know anything about country but was persuaded to put such a format on it.

Later a caller wanted to supply a program on cassette tape, but Allan said that`s not possible any longer, as everything has to be on a computer audio file; then relented, that if really necessary, they`d take a tape and then convert it. Also could one do a monthly show instead of weekly? Yes, but subject to time being sold to a weekly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Jan 30 at 1913 UT, only 41 minutes after local mean noon, I find a good & steady signal from WGN 720. Winter daytime skywave is in play. I`m driving away from neighborhood and household noise sources, so in central Enid I keep driving until pervasive line noise and plasma screens are minimal, parking first by a warehouse near the intersexion of Walnut & Jefferson. No DFing on the caradio with vertical whip. Here`s what I log in the next quarter-hour:

720, Jan 30 at 1913 UT, good & steady signal from WGN Chicago, almost 700 miles. Under very quiet conditions even in the summer I can sometimes pull it by groundwave, but this is much stronger. Talkhost is discussing wings and football games, mentions Órion Samuelson in passing.

710, Jan 30 at 1914 UT, Rush with some CCI and a low audible het! Surely the latter is not from the part-time off-frequency Chihuahuan? Rush is KGNC Amarillo, normal dominant on GW, not KCMO Kansas City which is in Dave Ramsey.

670, Jan 30 at 1915 UT, CCI between sports talk and another station. Sports must be WSCR Chicago, but as also on rare groundwave it`s considerably weaker than WGN. Other station is KLTT Denver which normally reaches here barely on GW.

(WBBM 780 and WLS 890 are blocked by Okies and 670 is bothered by splash from 640 Moore. BTW, I keep mistyping its call: once recently as KWPM as in Moore, but it`s really KWPN as in Norman; or since it`s a Sports Animal, ``We Program Nonsense``!)

570, Jan 30 at 1916 UT, WNAX ID and Accuweather for Yankton SD, clearly audible under KLIF Dallas. WNAX is always there on GW, but skywave may be helping a bit now. SAH counted as 212 per minute or 3.53 Hz.

760, Jan 30 at 1917, KCCV Overland Park/Kansas City religion has unID CCI. Could it be 50 kW non-direxional WJR Detroit? 50 kW KKZN Thornton (Denver) is half as far, but day pattern westward, null eastward, and rare here at any time. Arkansas station unlikely on GW, poor conductivity that way.

850, Jan 30 at 1918 UT, Rush. That would be KOA Denver, which per

http://www.850koa.com/cc-common/rushlimbaugh/

just started airing him live this month with the proviso that he will be pre-empted for any sillyballgames on weekday afternoons. KOA can barely reach here on GW but better now, and no sign of the Texan.

1000, Jan 30 at 1919 UT, KTOK OKC, talker is strong as usual, but I can hear something under it, unusual. Since Chicago is in on 670 & 720, I suspect WMVP, which has a lopsided day pattern favoring east, but considerable west too. There`s nothing on 1000 between here and Chicago. Sioux Falls beams NW away from us.

1060, Jan 30 at 1919 UT, station in English with fast SAH from another. Probably KIJN Farwell TX the off-frequency one so obvious at night, and KRCN Denver. KIJN could be GW, but KRCN may need skywave.

1100, Jan 30 at 1920 UT, Rush. Certainly not my closest, KKLL Webb City (Joplin) MO which is religious and barely reaches on GW. NRC AM Log shows him on three 50 kW ND stations: WTAM Cleveland OH, KNZZ Grand Junxion CO, and WZFG Dilworth MN (Fargo). My first choice would be WTAM, city to city 1509 km or 938 miles. All three stations` websites confirm Rush still on live, the other two with super-patriotic hype branding.

1120, Jan 30 at 1921 UT, KEOR Tulsa/Catoosa/Sperry is *still* open carrier dead air, but KMOX St Louis can be heard under it. That takes skywave over poor-conductivity Ozarx.

As I tune up the band, encounter some heavy noise on 1200, so move a few blox to another location near the intersexion of Maple & Madison:

1360, Jan 30 at 1924 UT, EWTN station with a low audible het I heard before at Vance, so seems it`s really there, indicating one of: KPHN El Dorado KS, or KDJW Amarillo TX is considerably off-frequency. If I could get enough signal on the DX-398, I could determine which, by BFO and DFing. May have to do it around SRS or SSS.

1450, Jan 30 at 1925 UT, ``your musical portfolio, live and in color, KGFF``. There`s a unique slogan from Shawnee OK groundwave. Quite a feat, since I thought AM radio was only in black & white. Woodward`s KSIW is about the same distance, and you never know which one or both will be in, but KGFF wins at the moment.

1690, Jan 30 at 1927 UT, sounds like Disney music, and YL announcer at 1928 UT giving a phone number including 7056. Would that be R. Disney 800 number? It`s not the individual phone of KDDZ Arvada CO as in NRC AM Log, nor would I expect talker WVON Chicago to be doing this unless the music was just a break/liner.

Aha, finally found on R. Disney website this: ``Radio Disney offers several forms of contest / sweepstakes: Call-In: The Radio Disney toll - free phone number for call - in entries is 1 - 877 - 870 - 5678. Changes to the toll - free number will be announced on - air.`` So it`s KDDZ which hasn`t been sold yet. Of course, it has to be skywave at this daypart and distance at top end.

I could have done better at a quieter rural location. If I can pull away, I should go out and try that tomorrow a little earlier during the noon hour, as winter midday skywave will soon be a pastthing, with solar zenith advancing degree by degree empowering D-layer absorption (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 860, UT Sat Jan 31 at 0156 UT, from Pittsburg KS, KKOW ID during silly ballgame, during which its signal has been unreasonably strong at night. So suspect an HSFB STA is in effect, 10 kW ND, instead of 5 kW direxional; we do get it at night on the broad SW pattern away from Toronto, but this is really dominant (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 870, Jan 31 at 0140 UT in WWL null, Vietnamese and a SAH, so 1 kW direxional daytimer KFJZ Fort Worth is on way late again. It peaks at 0148 UT such that I can hear it without even nulling WWL (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 880, Jan 31 at 0133 UT I have nulled KRVN Lexington NE to find music and announcements in Spanish, so keep checking this frequency, but no more of that; KRVN is covering a sillyballgame involving the Cozad Cornhuskers.

Instead in KRVN null at 0152 UT a song in English, ``What a wonderful time of the year`` left over from Xmas; suspect KHAC Tse Bonito NM, so I compare USB to LSB on the DX-398, and yes, it`s not on LSB; network news headlines at 0155, also habitual of KHAC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 880, Jan 31 at 0133 with KRVN nulled, a Spanish station after music announcing ``más tropical, más variedad``. Of the Mexicans, the closest format match in the IRCA Mexican log is XEEM in Rio Verde, San Luís Potosí. However, it and KRVN are close to opposite direxions from here. Anyhow, I asked them on their contact form,

Not much more of this in KRVN null, with KHAC taking over (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 960, Jan 31 at 0130 UT, as local KGWA is covering a silly ballgame, I find I can null it very precisely with the DX-398 flat on an easel, to hear a musical station also making a fast SAH. Slow romantic song by YL in English, maybe Celine Dion but not her titanic hit; 0132 & 0137 segúes, classic rock, all at slow pace. KGWA SBG includes long pauses which help; must not be much of a crowd at the game. I hope for an ID at 0200 UT from the understation, but it`s XEK in Spanish: see MEXICO, immediately followed by a PSA for veterans by American Legion in English: hard to believe it was from the same station, altho possibly XEK was playing tunes in English like some Mexicans do (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This report dispatched at 0548 UT January 31

Enviado por: Glenn Hauser - wghauser@yahoo.com

radioescutas@yahoogrupos.com.br

www.radioescutas.com

** AUSTRALIA [and non]. 11945, Jan 31 at 0647, RA logged on this frequency for one last time, pop music, fair.

9580, Jan 31 at 1339, RA is OFF this frequency, one which was supposed to continue after the major cutbacks at 1300 Jan 31! Instead, 9475 is still on with a countdown on `Saturday Night Country` but with a poor signal, obviously not on the 70 degree antenna.

So I check out all the other frequencies. These are also gone: 5940, 5995, 6080, 6150. These two are still on: 12065 with VG signal, and 12085 with VP and fluttery signal. Therefore from relative signals I conclude that contrary to latest `official` sked from RA, assuming the only three planned azimuths remain correct, instead we have:

Absence of 9580 removes ACI to Iran`s Japanese service on 9585, in well at 1340 and 1410 chex. 9475 is bad news, as WTWW-1 will come on there any minute now; but not promptly at 1400 as I hear beginning of ABC news, about Queensland premier ousted in an elexion (the one who was suing a 4BC shock-jock for defamation). Recheck at 1409, WTWW is now on, totally blocking RA.

Assuming RA stix to these three frequencies until 2100, we`ll have to see how well 12065 holds up toward North America thru the day. It could do well enough, better than 9580 would have.

Oh, oh, at 1645 check, NO signal on 12065 or 9580. Something weak on 12085, not sure if still RA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** FRANCE. 17510, Jan 31 at 1452, poor signal with fading, American gospel huxter. Thought it might be WHRI which once used this frequency, but no comparison to strength of 17790 WRMI and HFCC shows 17510 is now something via MBR, Issoudun, 250 kW, 83 degrees at 1400-1500 Sats, 1430-1500 Suns. We have to go do Aoki for the specifics: Bible Voice Broadcasting, English at 1400-1500 Saturdays only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** HUNGARY. 25940-USB, Jan 31 at 1502, HA3NU making quick contacts with US stations; is there a contest? QRZ.com shows:

HA3NU

LASZLO WEISZ

ZRINYI U. 99.

SZEKSZARD H-7100

Hungary

And refers to his own homepage:

http://radioamator.honlapepites.hu/?p=365

headed by an impressive photo of the town viewed thru his quad antenna, altho all antennas were destroyed in a storm.

Turn radio back on at 1645, and HA3NU is still going, cleaning up on US contacts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NORTH AMERICA. 6770.0, Jan 31 at 0650, oldtime radio pirate, poor signal with dramatic music and dialog, some words readable at peaks, but still far too poor for easy listening. Not offset to low side any more, as 6769.9. This thing has been operating continuously for months now without a bust. Judging from generally much better reception reported east of here, it`s not to the west of here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7325, Jan 31 at 1405, not a trace of a signal from Wantok Radio Light, even during the window when CRI is taking a break, altho someone had reported hearing it recently; however, with only 1 kW it still could be on and not making it here. Ron Howard hasn`t been able to hear it either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SCOTLAND. 24966-USB, Jan 31 at 1455, ham Steve from the Orkney Islands, northern tip of Scotland, M- call but not fonetik; 1458 says he issues e-QSLs only, temp 4 C, winds 60-70 mph! And snow showers. Contacting US stations, but not in a big hurry to move on, finally at 1520, MM0SJH with fonetix closing contact with Bob, WA0LRB, unheard as no doubt too close to me. Steve`s QRZ.com page does not show last name or specific location lest someone try to p-mail him! 12m is wide open from Europe, not 10m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9930, Jan 31 at 1411, WTWW-2 is on with a new format, the best one yet: classical music! By string orchestra. Unfortunately, tho super signal level, it`s ruined by distortion especially at modulation peaks. Still such at 1445, 1609, 1645 chex. What next? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)